A Nigerian foundation that changed countless lives and lit up thousands of homes received its Dh500,000 prize on Wednesday as the winner of this year’s Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support (Siara).
“It feels surreal to be here… we were just young Nigerian boys picking up scrap metal on the streets,” said Stanley Anigbogu, creative technologist and founder of LightEd, as he shared their personal journeys, from growing up in poverty to empowering the needy.
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Now, Stanley and his team have transformed the lives of more than 26,000 people — including refugees and those in marginalised communities — by giving them access to clean, sustainable sources of electricity.
Founded in 2022, LightEd was born out of several years of grassroots work by its founders, who were driven by personal experiences in challenging environments.
“Everything that we did came from personal experience,” Stanley said during the awarding ceremony that was attended by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
The group began their journey under the name “Light It,” aiming to create a brand that truly represented their mission. Among their products were ‘solar charging stations’ made with plastic bottles. These ‘solar-powered lockers’ light up as lamps in homes that didn’t have access to electricity.
Humble beginnings
“Before starting this initiative, I spent 11 years of my life in Brazil using cannabis. My dad had a car we never used, which highlighted the lack of education around clean energy,” the founder said.
Stanley had only $200 left in his pockets then, and that was all he used to launch the project. He said: “Man, we are going to go broke, but you know what? If we are going broke, let’s go big.”
He recognised that access to electricity is more than just a necessity; it is “a symbol of opportunity, a beacon of hope, and a catalyst for change.”
“True change often begins with a single spark, an idea born from the desire to make the world a better place,” Stanley said.
The foundation’s mission, Lighted, aims to transform electronic and plastic waste into renewable energy, thereby illuminating lives and uplifting communities.
“We began with a simple yet powerful idea,” Stanley said, highlighting initiatives such as the Light for Peace project, which provides solar energy to refugee camps, and the Lighted Kids initiative, which educates youth about sustainability.
As he quoted Nelson Mandela, “As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others the permission to do the same,” he reminded attendees that their actions could inspire hope and empowerment in communities.
The foundation is now aiming to recycle plastic into bricks to create charging stations, striving to make energy solutions more affordable and accessible.
The Dh500,000 Siara prize was a special contribution of The Big Heart Foundation and is not counted from the donations that reach the humanitarian organisation.